Self-propelled toy vehicle

ABSTRACT

A SELF-PROPELLED TOY VEHICLE WHEREIN THE SUPPORTING AND DRIVING MEANS ALSO PROVIDES A GYROSCOPIC EFFECT ON THE TRAVEL OF VEHICLE. THE TOY VEHICLE HAS MOUNTED THEREON A SINGLE SUPPORTING WHEEL IN THE FORM OF A ROTATABLE FLYWHEEL, WHICH IS CAPABLE OF STORING SUFFICIENT ENERGY TO PROVIDE A GYROSCOPIC EFFECT ON THE VEHICLE WHEN THE ROTATING FVLYWHEEL IS PLACED ON A SUPPORTING SURFACE. IN THE ILLUSTRATED EMIBODIMENT, THE FLYWHEEL IS WOUND WITH A STRING, SIMILARLY TO THE WINDING OF A GYROSCOPIC TOP, AND A LAUNCHING DEVICE IS ALSO PROVIDED IN ORDER TO FACILITATE LAUNCHING THE DEVICE IN A BALANCED CONDITION AND ALONG A STRAIGHT LINE.

NOV. 23, 1971 om- ETAL 3,621,601

SELF-PROPELLED TOY VEHICLE Filed Dec. 15, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet flINVENTJOQS #zmw u. MOPP/SO/V MAiV/A/ A 61/155 TORNEY 3,621,607SELF-PROPELLED TOY VEHICLE Howard J. Morrison, Highland Park, and Marvinll. Glass, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Marvin Glass & Associates,Chicago, Ill.

Filed Dec. 15, 1969, Ser. No. 885,001 Int. Cl. A63h 17/00 US. Cl. 46-40611 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A self-propelled toy vehiclewherein the supporting and driving means also provides a gyroscopiceffect on the travel of the vehicle. The toy vehicle has mounted thereona single supporting wheel in the form of a rotatable flywheel, which iscapable of storing suflicient energy to provide a gyroscopic effect onthe vehicle when the rotating flywheel is placed on a supportingsurface. In the illustrated embodiment, the flywheel is wound with astring, similarly to the winding of a gyroscopic top, and a launchingdevice is also provided in order to facilitate launching the device in abalanced condition and along a straight line.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to toyvehicles and is particularly directed to a gyroscopic toy vehicle.

Toy vehicles have been quite popular with children for many years, bothin the form of self'propelled vehicles and as manually propelledvehicles. Gyroscopic toys have also been somewhat popular, particularlygyroscopic tops. There have also been some instances wherein agyroscopic rotor was combined with a toy vehicle so as to provide asource of driving energy for the supporting wheels of the vehicle. Thepresent invention utilizes a gyroscopic rotor or flywheel as theself-propelling and Supporting means for the vehicle as well ascontrolling the direction of travel and balance of the vehicle.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a toy vehiclehaving a single supporting wheel, wherein the supporting wheel is aflywheel or gyro rotor adapted to store energy and to transfer suchenergy directly to a supporting surface to propel the vehicle along astraight path. A further object of the invention is to provide a toyvehicle which has, as its sole support during motion, a rapidlyrotatable flywheel and a ground engaging skid disposed rearwardly of theflywheel and parallel to the direction of rotation of the flywheel.Still another object of the invention is to provide a launching meansfor the above described vehicle, including means for supporting thevehicle in elevated relation to a supporting surface while effectingrapid rotation of the flywheel and means for moving the vehicle into aposition of engagement between the flywheel and the support surface.Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription of the selected embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy vehicle embodying the inventiondisclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the toy vehicle with the driver-figureremoved;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal, sectional view of a launching device for thevehicle, with the toy vehicle supported on the launcher in position foroperation;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the launcher; and

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the vehicle.

With reference first to FIGS. l-3 of the drawings, it

series? Patented Nov. 23, 1971 will be noted that the selectedembodiment of the invention is in the form of a futuristic appearingvehicle it) including a body portion 12, preferably of impact-resistantplastic, having a seat portion 14 thereon for supporting a driver-figure16, a simulated jet or turbine 18 at the rear of the vehicle, andsimulated stabilizing fins 20 extending rearwardly along opposite sidesof the body. The under portion of the rear part of the body or frameincludes a narrow skid element 22 extending lengthwise of the frame inalignment with a gyroscopic rotor or fly wheel 24 disposed forwardlythereof on the vehicle.

The gyro rotor or flywheel 24- is fixed to a transverse shaft 26 and isformed to provide a substantial portion of its mass adjacent theperiphery of the wheel to provide an energy-storing and transfer means.The flywheel is preferably metal with at least a portion of its outercircumference provided with a friction-producing material, such as arubber O -ring 28 seated in a circumferential groove 30 in the flywheel.The opposite ends 32 of the shaft 26 are preferably of reducedcross-sectional area (FIG. 3) in order to minimize friction duringrotation of the flywheel. As a further means for reducing such friction,the reduced ends 32 of the shaft are journaled in nylon bearings 34- orthe like seated in transversly aligned bores formed in the frame. Theflywheel shaft 26 includes a transverse opening 36 therethrough forinsertion of a cord or string 38, which is then wound around the shaftand provides means for effecting rapid rotation of the flywheel. Theskid portion 22 on the body, as seen also in FIGS. 4 and 6, is ofrelatively narrow width so as to provide a minimum amount of friction asit moves along the supporting surface during propulsion of the toyvehicle, during which time the fly wheel 24 maintains the vehicle in abalanced state laterally of its longitudinal axis with only the flywheeland the skid 22 engaging the supporting surface. Preferably the skid issubstantially narrower than the width of the flywheel and as a resultthe vehicle is laterally unstable when at rest.

In the operation of the toy, a cord 38 is inserted through the opening36 in the axle 26 a short distance and the cord is then wound around theaxle, similar to the preparation of a gyroscopic top for operation. Thevehicle is then held in the users hand by grasping the vehiclerearwardly of the flywheel, and the string 38 is pulled rapidly tothereby effect rotation of the axle or shaft 26 and start the flywheel24 in motion. As the vehicle is then placed on the floor, so that itcontacts the floor only at the circumference of the flywheel 24 and onthe bottom edge of the skid 22, the frictional bearing surface on theflywheel provided by O-ring 28 will grip the floor and propel thevehicle forwardly at a rapid rate. The flywheel or gyro rotor 24 willalso serve as a gyroscope and maintain the vehicle in a straight linealong the direction of rotation of the flywheel. This straight linepropulsion of the vehicle will be further assisted by the skid 22, whichprovides the only other contact with the supporting surface duringpropulsion of the toy. Thus the gyroscopically acting flywheel 24provides support, balance, and direction, as well as the propellingmeans for the toy vehicle.

An additional novel feature of the described toy vehicle is that thevehicle automatically accelerates for a distance once the rapidlyrotating flywheel has been placed in engagement with a supportingsurface. Since the flywheel 24 serves both as the energystoring meansand the energy-transfer means to the supporting surface, there is aslight lag between initial transfer of energy and the maximum transferof energy and, consequently, a resulting acceleration takes place at apoint along the path of travel which is forward of the initial startingposition.

In order to facilitate the launching of the vehicle,

particularly for younger children, there is provided a launching device40, which is seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. The launching device includes aplatform 42 having formed therewith a pair of vertically extending sidemembers 44 and 46 including relatively shallow sections 44a and 46a,respectively, at the forward end of the platform which are adapted tosupport the toy vehicle in slightly elevated relation to the platform.At the rear of the side members 44, 46 there is pivotally mounted alaunching handle or lever 48 disposed with an inclined forward endportion 50 of the lever in position to push the vehicle forwardly on theplatform as the rear portion of the lever is depressed. To facilitatemovement of the lever there is provided a transverse handle 52 at theupper end of the lever. In preparing for launching the toy vehicle thecord 3-8 might he wound around the axle 26 clockwise, either beforeplacement of the vehicle 10 in the launcher 40 or while the vehicle isin position on the launcher, as seen in FIG. 4. A length of the cord isbrought rearwardly along one of the side members 44a and is guidedaround a pulley 56 which is rotatably mounted on the side member 44. Thelauncher is preferably stabilized by placement of the users knees orfeet on opposite sides of the rear part of the platform 42, and the endof the string is pulled upwardly from the position seen in FIG. 4. Asthe string is unwound from the axle 26 there is a resulting rapidrotation of the flywheel 24 which is being held free of the supportingsurface by the side member portions 44a and 46a. Thereafter, the handle52 is moved downwardly to provide engagement of the forward end portionof the lever 50 with the rear of the vehicle 10 and thereby cause thelatter to move forwardly off of the supporting rails 44a, 46a to aposition of engagement between the rotating flywheel 24 and the forwardend of the platform or directly on to the supporting floor surface. Theposition of the vehicle on the rails 44a, 46a of the launcher is suchthat the described initial forward movement of the vehicle is guidedalong a straight line in the direction of rotation of the flywheel, soas to provide maximum efficiency in the operation of the self-propelledvehicle. At least the forward end of the launching pad which isinitially engaged by the flywheel 24 is preferably roughened orotherwise provided with a surface of friction producing material, asindicated at 60, so as to minimize the slippage of the flywheel with thesurface as the flywheel moves downwardly into engagement therewith.

Although shown and described with respect to a particular embodiment, itwill be apparent that various modifications might be made withoutdeparting from the principles of this invention. For example, othermeans might be employed for effecting rapid rotation of the flywheel,such as a pinion gear fixed on the flywheel shaft and an elongated rack(not shown) which is en .gageable with such pinion to effect rotation ofthe flywheel in a manner similar to that disclosed in US. Pat. 755,446.It will also be apparent that the vehicle can readily be made in variousdesigns, as long as the weight of such vehicle body is related to theamount of energy capable of being stored and transferred to a supportingsurface by the flywheel so that the latter is effective to produce rapidmovement of the vehicle along a path determined by the direction ofrotation of the flywheel. In this respect, it must also be borne in mindthat the friction produced between the vehicle body and supportingsurface must be minimized in order to avoid overloading the flywheel ordisrupting the balance of the vehicle or the gyroscopic tendency of theflywheel to move along a straight line. In the illustrated embodiment ofthe invention, it has been found that a very wide skid or multiple skidsdisposed parallel to one another detract from the proper straight linepropelling movement of the vehicle necessary to achieve maximum speedand length of the travel of the vehicle.

Furthermore, although the illustrated embodiment has the gyro rotor orflywheel at the forward portion of the vehicle other designs are alsoeffective in achieving the results of this invention. The primaryrequisite is that the flywheel acts as a gyroscope and controls thebalance and the direction of travel of the vehicle. This can be achievedeven though the flywheel is disposed at a midportion or even rearwardlyon the vehicle, as long as the weight of the vehicle frame is not sogreat as to disrupt the gyroscopic effect of the flywheel. In the latterrespect, the distance of the center of gravity of the vehicle body fromthe axis of rotation of the flywheel is an obvious factor as well as theactual weight of the vehicle body. It 'will be apparent that optimumresults are achieved in speed, balance and straight line operation ofthe vehicle, when the weight of the vehicle is quite small compared tothe kinetic force or energy of the flywheel and the center of gravity ofthe vehicle body is coincident with the axis of rotation of theflywheel.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy vehicle comprising a body, a single supporting wheel mounted onsaid body for rotation relative thereto and in position for engagementwith a supporting surface, said supporting wheel comprising a flywheelbeing capable of rotation at a speed sufficient to provide a gyroscopicaction with respect to the entire vehicle, means for effecting rapidrotation of said flywheel, and said body being sufliciently light weightrelative to the potential kinetic energy of the flywheel so as torespond to the gyroscopic action of said flywheel, whereby said flywheelserves as a gyroscopic rotor to guide the vehicle along a straight lineas well as providing a balancing and supporting driving wheel for thevehicle.

2. A toy vehicle as set forth in claim 1, including a skid support onthe bottom of said vehicle in alignment with said flywheel.

3. A toy vehicle as set forth in claim 2, wherein said flywheel is fixedto a shaft journalled in said body, with said shaft including atransverse bore spaced from said flywheel and adapted to receive one endof a flexible cord to be wound around said axle, whereby pulling of saidwound cord provides rotation of said flywheel.

4. A toy vehicle as set forth in claim 1, wherein said flywheel is fixedto an intermediate portion of an axle having reduced, opposite endportions, and journal hearing means on said body for receiving saidreduced end portions of said flywheel axle.

5. A toy vehicle as set forth in claim 4, wherein said flywheel ispositioned forwardly on said body, and including an elongated, narrowrib on the bottom surface of said body extending rearwardly from and inalignment with said flywheel, so as to provide a supporting skid for therear portion of said vehicle.

6. A gyroscopic toy vehicle comprising a frame struc ture, a gyroscopicrotor fixed to an axial shaft which is journaled at its opposite ends insaid frame to position the periphery of said rotor outwardly of saidframe and along the longitudinal axis thereof, a narrow, groundengagingskid on said frame rearwardly of said rotor and parallel to thedirection of rotation of said rotor, and means for effecting rapidrotation of said rotor while the latter is free of engagement with anysurface, so that subsequent engagement of the periphery of said movingrotor with a supporting surface provides for an accelerating propulsionof said vehicle over the supporting surface while engaging said surfacewith said rotor and skid.

7. A gyroscopic toy vehicle as set forth in claim 6, including means forlaunching said vehicle on to a supporting surface, which means comprisesa platform mounting a pair of spaced-apart rail members adapted tosupport the vehicle with said rotor in elevated relation to theplatform, and movable lever supported by said platform in position forengagement with the rear portion of said vehicle to move the latter offsaid rail members to a position of engagement between said rotor and asupporting surface.

8. A gyroscopic toy vehicle as set forth in claim 7, wherein said meansfor effecting rotation of said rotor includes a cord wound around therotor shaft, and said launching means includes means for guiding thecord rearwardly along the platform to a position adjacent said movablelever, whereby the rotor can be set in motion by pulling on the cordwhile said vehicle is supported by said rail members and the vehicle cansubsequently be launched through movement of said lever.

9. A toy vehicle comprising a body, a single supporting and drivingwheel mounted on said body for rotation relative thereto and in positionfor engagement with a supporting surface, said supporting wheelcomprising a flywheel having sufficient potential kinetic energyrelative to the weight of said body to be capable of rotation at a speedsufficient to provide a gyroscopic action with respect to the entirevehicle as it propels said vehicle along a supporting surface, and meansfor effecting rapid rotation of said flywheel.

10. A toy vehicle as set forth in claim 9, including a ground-engageablesupport means on said vehicle in spaced relation to the axis of rotationof said flywheel.

11. A toy vehicle as set forth in claim 9, wherein said flywheel isfixed to a shaft journalled in said body, and wherein said means foreflecting rapid rotation of said flywheel includes means on said shaftand a separate cooperable means which is engageable with said shaftmeans to rapidly rotate said shaft when engaged therewith and then movedrelative to said shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT PESHOCK,

D. L. WEINHOLD,

Primary Examiner 111., Assistant Examiner

